Pages

Saturday, October 4, 2008

The mating season for elk, more commonly known as the rut, begins in early September, in Pennsylvania. By the middle of the month activity is intense although it may be less on warm days. I find the last two weeks of the month to be the most productive for sighting bulls in pursuit of cows.

This year was extremely good. Although there were not as many outstanding bulls as there were in the years before the elk hunt began, there were a lot of good second tier bulls. The one featured here today is possibly the most promising young bull on Winslow Hill today. This is the bull that was featured in earlier posts, which spent the summer Benezette. This bull has no fear of humans as is amply demonstrated in the photograph below. He left town to pursue cows once the rut began and will likely return once it is over.

If you look closely to the left of the bull you will notice a photographer with a long lens and tripod. The animal was fully aware of his presence and completely unconcerned.

No Fear!

If this animal remains in the No Hunt Zone during the coming elk season, he has an excellent chance of becoming one of Pennsylvania's great bulls. If he strays from it, his career will be short indeed. Many speculate that his father is Bull 36 also known as Fred as his rack bears a great resemblance to the one that Fred had when at a similar age.

If he is taken, it will be interesting to see how someone will be able to justify it as a challenging, fair chase hunt.

Sunset in Elk County

Stay tuned for more posts about the recent trip to Yellowstone and The Pennsylvania Elk Rut.

Thanks for sharing these stunning images! Living in NE PA right on the lake I haven't had the opportunity to see such sights but am pleased these beautiful creatures are alive and kicking in our beautiful state.

Great to see you posting again and I can't wait to see more from the Pa. rut season. I am also looking forward to more from your western trip. I always enjoy your photos and learn alott from your site, thanks Brad.

Fantastic images... I see I haven't missed too much...Looks like I'm going to have to do most of my hikes and walks through the blogs for awhile until I recuperate so I welcome your posts for the next little while.Thanks so much for dropping by my blog... I really do appreciate it.~Michele~

Ordering Information

Information on "The Truth About Pennsylvania's Elk Herd" and ordering information for both this film and the new production, "Running Wild In Pennsylvania Elk Country"

Contains sample footage and ordering information.ClickHere to read more, or to order.

Wildlife Video Clips by W.Hill, on Vimeo: Click thumbnail to view large clip

Photo Book By Marci Geise

Marci Geise has published a book of photographs from Pennsylvania Elk Country, "Elk Scenic Drive". Click Here for purchasing information and to preview the book. In Elk County, "Elk Scenic Drive" is available exclusively at Benezett Store.

Guide To Photographing Elk In Pennsylvania

http://www.floralphoto.us/guidetophotographingelk Click here for important information about photographing the Pennsylvania elk herd. Written by Paul Staniszewski

Outdoor Blogger Network

Facebook Badge

Networked Blogs

Followers

About Me

A graduate of Shippensburg University, I retired from the PA Game Commission in 2007 after many years as a Maintenance Worker, Maintenance Supervisor, and Deputy Wildlife Conservation Officer.
I have been interested in wildlife photography since 1974, and cinematography since 1990 and
have been published in Bugle Magazine, Pennsylvania Magazine, The PA Game Commission Calendar, and have released two documentary films, "The Truth About Pennsylvania's Elk Herd" and "Running Wild In Pennsylvania Elk Country". I also provided a significant portion of the footage for The Elk Country Visitor Center's theater presentation. Most of the wildlife footage other than elk was shot by me and I also shot a substantial portion of the elk footage including the tremendous bull fight at the end.
I use the Canon 5D MK III, 70D, and 7D DSLRS with a battery of L lenses for still photography, For video, I have a Canon XL-H1 fitted with a nanoFlash, but it is seldom used any more and I have mostly switched to Panasonic mirror-less cameras for this purpose. My current front line video acquisition tool is the GH4, but I have the GH3 and GH2 also and use them when the need arises.